Hogwarts Legacy 2 Should Embrace Soulslike Inspirations with NPC and Player Summons

Hogwarts Legacy might not be the first game that comes to mind when fans consider Soulslikes, though it does more as an action-RPG to support that subgenre classification than one may think. Hogwarts Legacy follows all the iconic tropes it feels obligated to while belonging to the Harry Potter and wizarding world IP and still it manages to craft exquisite gameplay systems that are all in-depth and elaborate, which is impressive for a debut open-world title of its scale. The school itself could’ve housed an entire action-RPG and Avalanche extrapolated that further to put the Scottish Highlands on display, where a lot of Hogwarts Legacy’s Soulslike influences are laid bare.

A lot of what’s fun about a Soulslike experience, at least on a first playthrough when everything is novel and unpredictable, is the exhilarating exploration of navigating an unfamiliar land and knowing there are perils around every corner. Players even have to worry about certain NPCs not being the friendly hosts they appear to be, but mainly what they must deal with are mobs of enemies from all different flora and fauna in the world whenever they decide to trek out past Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. In a Hogwarts Legacy sequel, Avalanche should take this a stretch further with summons, either of the NPC or player variety.

Related

Hogwarts Legacy’s Sequel Has a Great Excuse for the Amnesiac Protagonist Trope

Hogwarts Legacy’s next installment could wholeheartedly and immersively lean into gaming’s popular amnesiac protagonist trope with one spell.

Soulslike Summons in Hogwarts Legacy’s Sequel Would Be Immersive

NPC Summons Could Make Hogwarts Legacy Companions and Classmates Paramount

Part of what makes this exploration in Soulslikes engaging is the fact that players are on their own and must precariously round corners or corridors with their guards always up. That said, they don’t have to do it alone, and quite often players can get the most out of a FromSoftware Soulslike by accepting and contributing to its online connectivity features.

This way, while adventurers are out on their pilgrimage and never need to actually gain assistance from others, they can always see messages scrawled throughout the environment and choose to read them if they’re interested in getting a heads-up about an upcoming area. Indeed, if it wasn’t for these messages, first-time players might miss crucially important interactions that the game wouldn’t otherwise clue them in on, such as being able to burn the windmill in Dark Souls 2’s Earthen Peak to drain Mytha’s boss arena of poison.

This is only one of countless examples where these messages can be helpful, yet they only have specific words and phrases that can be used and not all of them may be well-articulated or legible. NPCs being summoned sometimes rely on whether players have talked to them in-game while some are ready and willing to aid the player at any moment’s notice, and a Hogwarts Legacy sequel with fellow witches and wizards available to take down bosses would be excellent for the same reasons.

Player Summons Could Give Hogwarts Legacy a Co-op Component

Otherwise, if players do desire legitimate assistance to slay bosses, they have the option to summon NPCs or actual players—even if the process of summoning players in FromSoftware Soulslikes is often illogical or resource-intensive. Floo Flame was already established as Hogwarts Legacy’s means of fast travel, and Floo powder itself could become the resource players need to collect in order to summon other players. Keeping with that iconography and making it immersive, each applicable boss fight where a player or NPC could be summoned may have a fireplace there for Floo powder to be tossed in.

Hogwarts Legacy’s lack of a multiplayer component was a gripe players had when it was confirmed to be single-player only and that made sense because the atmosphere of a wizarding school full of classmates was a premise ripe for online functionality. It’s no more clear whether a sequel would decide to indulge in that, but summoning players into co-op sessions like FromSoftware Soulslike encourage could satisfy that a bit, especially if players could summon one another and run around inside the castle together before attempting to kill a boss.

Summons such as these are typically only meant for bosses, however, and branching out to allow players actual co-op might be too much on Avalanche’s plate if it wants its sequel to be as expansive and mechanically rich as the original is. Perhaps co-op functionality would better substitute for a lot of the miscellaneous action-RPG features players had access to in Hogwarts Legacy’s Room of Requirement, and leaning into Soulslike inspirations may be Avalanche’s best bet considering how much of a positive impact FromSoftware has had on the gaming industry, let alone open-world action-RPGs.

Summons aren’t Largely Favorable in Soulslikes Anyhow

Rather, summons haven’t always been a widely agreeable feature in Soulslike games. Summons commonly scale bosses to make them more difficult depending on how many NPCs or players are brought into a fight, which has led to a lot of players forgoing the feature entirely. Still, many may find it helpful to take aggro off of themselves in a boss fight, if for no other reason than to stay alive long enough and begin to learn what sort of attacks the boss throws out in different phases.

Lies of P’s NPC Specter summons actually made bosses easier because they didn’t scale, though, and Hogwarts Legacy’s sequel could choose to design its own NPC summons similarly. Regardless, summons would definitely help a Hogwarts Legacy sequel feel much more like a Soulslike, and it’ll be neat to see what other mechanics and features are introduced that possibly lean more heavily into that subgenre than before.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy

$42 $70 Save $28

Hogwarts Legacy is a game that allows players to explore an open world, including locations such as Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest, and the surrounding Overland area. Players can create their unique witch or wizard character, learn spells, brew potions, grow plants, and tend to magical beasts during their journey. Sorting into a Hogwarts house and forging relationships with other characters enable players to master various skills and shape their characters’ development.

The game features an original wizarding world adventure set in an unexplored era, where players uncover a hidden truth from the past. Challenging encounters await, such as battles against trolls, Dark Wizards, goblins, and a dangerous villain who poses a threat to the fate of the world.

Franchise

Harry Potter

Released

February 10, 2023

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol

How Long To Beat

26 Hours

Metascore

84

PS Plus Availability

N/A